Gulfstream and Santa Anita racetracks are 2,715 miles apart, but they will once again unite horseplayers from around the country by offering a Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 wager this weekend. The $1 wager with a 15-percent takeout has drawn an average pool size of $120,663 since the current series began December 28. The average payout on the 19 days the wager was offered exceeds $10,000. Here’s a look at the Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 for this Friday, Feb. 28:

GP 7th race (4:07 p.m. EST) -- This $50,000 maiden claimer at 7F appears the most difficult leg on the Pick 5. LAWLER starts fresh, gets Lasix and returns to the Gulfstream Park dirt, where he met six next-out winners in five starts and finished in the money three times. He faced the likes of unbeaten, multiple stakes winner Rated By Merit (4-4, $400k), stakes winner Big Paradise and allowance victors Forged Steel and Lou. STEPPE awakened with Lasix and blinkers, setting a clear pace after he bumped the winner at the break and finishing third despite not changing leads in the stretch. JACK’S PROMISE’s only long sprint attempt was a good one, charging late at the odds-on winner for a $100,000 tag at Churchill Downs. He has the outside post to contend with today. SARKIS chased the 1-to-2 favorite and finished second in a long sprint at Tampa Bay before he faded in a follow-up MSW route race.

SA 3rd race (4:33 p.m. EST) -- PRESIDER has a win and two near misses in shorter route races on the Santa Anita lawn and should control the pace throughout. But EL REY REY deserves a long look at a better price and is our top pick in here. He backed off a duel with a pestering 30-1 longshot, found room between rivals in the stretch and finished full of run at this distance. Trainer Hector Palma is 6-for-16 with turf runners off the claim the last three years.

SA 4th race (5:04 p.m. EST) -- LIQUID SPIRIT has speed, wears blinkers and class drops into an ideal spot on the cutback to 5-1/2F in a race that lacks quality zip. GRACIE’S DAY has speed and a favorable post to use it from as the co-lightweight in the field. She forced the pace of a runaway 2-to-5 repeat winner two starts back. One of the two morning-line favorites should win.

SA 5th race (5:35 p.m. EST) -- DROP UM made a ‘quick move’ into the far turn in his first long-distance test but he was disqualified from a repeat stakes victory for drifting in deep stretch. He gets Lasix and blinkers for his first turf start and first for a claiming price. ACCIDENTAL GENIUS followed the move of DROP UM with a menacing 5-wide sweep but finished a length behind. He also gets a makeover for his first try on the lawn, but his dam was 0-19 on turf. I’M A BAD BOY raced 4-wide throughout off the dueling leaders in a one-mile stakes race two back on the main track. He looked like a winner but lost by a nose. He worked in :47-1/5 last Saturday.

GP 10th race (5:40 p.m. EST) -- URBAN LEGEND romped off a longer layoff than this to start his 3-year-old season last year, now returns as a gelding after three months away. He ran 1-2 in four consecutive turf sprints before a troubled allowance run at Churchill Downs, a race that produced three next-out winners with an average Beyer speed figure of 90. BIZ BIZ BUZZ responded to front-end tactics under Saez, found more in the final 1/8th to hold safe favorite XY SPEED (12-25, $385k at 5F) and galloped out well.

Suggested $1 Ticket
GP 7th Race: 2, 3, 5, 8
SA 3rd Race: 2, 3
SA 4th Race: 2,7
SA 5th Race: 2, 3, 5
GP 10th Race: 5, 11
Cost: $96